On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CIV

Vader watched motionless as Luna slept and Ahsoka finished injecting pain killers and a sedative into the girl's blood stream. Between the two of them, Luna's bleeding (at least the outer bleeding, internal was far more difficult to deal with) had been stopped and the poison had been more or less dealt with; however, while the girl was stable, she needed a better facility than the medbay on the Shadow.

"That should do it until we make it to a real medcenter," the Togruta muttered before glancing at him. "You said you knew a place that wouldn't involve the Rebellion?"

"I have a secret base that should have plenty of equipment," Vader replied. "The ship knows the first few jump points before it becomes necessary for me to fly the rest of the way."

Ahsoka just nodded, either deciding not to question why he'd need to personally fly or already knowing through her partner what he would likely be doing. "I'll set the jump."

~*~

At some point while Luna was floating in endless darkness, she felt the pain leave her. She couldn't help but wonder in the back of her mind why nothing else had happened, even as she slowly but surely felt herself wake up. The girl's body felt exhausted and her mind was moving slow, but she was determined to open her eyes, if for no other reason than to simply say she could.

The whiteness of a medbay met them. Luna squinted at the light as her sight slowly adjusted, even as her eyelids tried to slide closed once more. Her hearing took a while longer to process sounds. She wasn't alone.

Her blurry eyes took a few moments to find the familiar shape of Vader's figure standing in a corner, watching her. She blinked dully for a moment, wondering why she felt surprised—he was usually present when she awoke after severely injuring herself doing something stupid. It'd actually be stranger if he wasn't there.

Did a building collapse on me again? the girl slowly asked her unclear mind, attempting to recall why her body hurt so badly. There were the muddled and disordered memories her mind was attempting to help her recall to answer the above question. There were blurs. Lots of blurs. Bad colors.

What did that even mean?

Who cared?

Luna allowed her eyes to droop closed, her body and mind apparently not prepared to give anything anymore attention. Honestly, she wouldn't mind falling asleep and staying that way for a week. Nothing else seemed important enough to warrant her notice anyways.

What had been the point in opening her eyes again?

"Luna." The girl managed by some miracle to peel her eyes open just enough to find Vader had moved to her bedside at an unknown point in time.

"Umhum?" she hummed in response, too lazy to try to come up with a word.

"You're safe."

"Course....I am," Luna slurred in a practical whisper as she let her eyes drop closed once more. "I'm....with you."

"Funny you should say that," he replied. The girl may have already been halfway to dream land, but she could still tell he thought it was anything but.

"It's the truth." To say it took a momentous effort for Luna's voice to come out clearly and at a decent volume as she cracked her eyes back open was an understatement. It felt like she was trying to lift the sky with just one hand like Atlas did in Greek Mythology.

"Perhaps. You should rest."

"M-kay," Luna mumbled, not against the idea in her drowsy state.

Vader turned to go, but she managed to move her left hand just enough to weakly touch his, the tip of a single finger somehow catching the side of his hand. Despite the complete lack of force, the Sith Lord stopped in his tracks.